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Language Foundation

UTC

UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time, is the international standard time on which the world's civil time zones are based.

In plain English

It is the shared global reference for official clock time. Civil time zones are set in relation to it, so places around the world define their local times from the same standard.

In context

Here, UTC indicates that the reported dates and times are expressed using the standard reference time rather than a local time zone.

Situation
Reading creator, advertising, monetization, reach, eligibility, and payout dashboards
What it communicates
marks the time standard used for reporting dates and times.

Meaning limits

The term by itself does not identify which local time zone someone should convert those dates and times into.

Examples

“The rescue beacon activated at 22:18 UTC, although the beach patrol received the alert just after midnight local time.”

Core meaning

“Please record the departure and arrival times in UTC in the incident report.”

In context

  • time standard Broader Term

    UTC is a named standard for measuring and coordinating civil time.

  • time zone Contrast

    UTC is a global reference standard, while a time zone is a local civil time based on an offset from it.